Elephas maximus

Habitat & Geography

Subspecies

There are four
subspecies of the Asian Elephant and all
are endangered species:

Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus)

They are found in
India, China, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia,
and the Malaysia Peninsula.Most males of this subspecies
have tusks but most females do not.

Sri Lankan Elephant Elephas maximus maximus)

They are found in
Sri Lanka and it is rare to find even
males with tusks.

Sumatran Elephant Elephas maximus sumatransis)

They are found on
the island of Sumatra and are the second
smallest subspecies.

Borneo Elephant(Elephas maximus borneensis)

They are also known
as the Borneo Pygmy Elephant and are
found in north Borneo. They are the
smallest subspecies.

Habitat

Asian elephants can
inhabit a variety of habitats including
tropical forests, grasslands, and farm
areas. They can adapt
to very dry conditions as well as very
moist enabling them to occupy moist,
evergreen lowland forests to cooler
mountain forests.

They generally
inhabit large blocks of forest near
water bodies and grasslands so that
water is easy accessible.However, due to habitat loss and
human conflicts, most elephants prefer
to live in remote areas so that they
have plenty of room to explore
vegetation without human encounters.

A Few Asian Elephant Neighbors

Some animals that
share the Asian elephant’s habitat
include
tigers, ambars which are large
Asian deer related to elk, and hornbills
which are flashy birds with large strong
beaks that aid in seed dispersal in
forested areas.

Geography and
Distribution

The Asian elephant
at one point in time ranged over a vast
area from Syria, all across the Indian
subcontinent, Southeast Asia, all the
way up to central China.They were also found on the
islands of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Borneo,
and Sumatra.

The total number of
Asian elephants has dramatically
decreased over the years and their
geographical range has also shrunk
greatly due to a variety of reasons
including habitat loss, and the demand
for ivory. These populations
have been reduced to scattered areas in
India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and a
few islands including Sumatra, Borneo,
and Indonesia.

In 1989, Asian
elephants were added to the
international list of the most
endangered species at which point there
were only about 600,000 remaining, which
is less than 1% of the original number.